Cannabis Day
We celebrate how far we’ve come in combating the drug war in Canada! Removing Cannabis from the controlled drugs and substance act is a milestone we cannot minimize. But unfortunately our politicians got quite a few things wrong. Legalization has been limited to their control, and it is still punishable by law if you do not follow the new strict regimes.
The new recreational market was developed without the original reason we fought for cannabis in the first place. It doesn’t cater to the medicinal patient or those on the low income threshold.
The pioneers that fought for Legalization were pushed aside and not consulted. Most not even able to hold a license.
Decriminalization means Cannabis is not criminalized no matter how many plants you grow, where you obtain your seeds, or how much you can have on your person or household at a time.
The marijuana culture needs total legalization of marijuana, including free cultivation and distribution of marijuana and home made derivatives, for personal use and for sale between individuals or small groups.
Bill C-45 is clearly a framework for marijuana industry monopoly, through harsher jail sentencing and especially the targeting of youth with harsher sentences.This is discriminatory agism and it has no place in Canadian society!
Why do our lawmakers feel that persons engaging in growing and/or selling large quantities of marijuana should be punished exponentially harsher than those who are charged with sexually assaulting children? I guess it is more lucrative for our government to chase drug distributors than it is to jail pedophiles.
Cannabis is not harmful, it is helpful for a variety of health issues facing our society. It is an excellent pain killer, which could have useful applications to help address the opioid epidemic and the general problems caused by dependence on pain killers.
The players in the justice system seem to want drugs to remain prohibited or prohibitively controlled, because it generates a lot of revenue streams for certain highly paid professions who hold a lot of unwarranted power in our government. People living in poverty are much more likely to end up incarcerated for drug related issues. Nothing breaches the Charter Right’s of Canadians more than drug prohibition, and the institutions that support drug prohibition The Marijuana culture and associated industries should be allowed to flourish from it’s roots.
Calling it legalization while maintaining all of the control and restrictions proposed in Bill c45, is a sick joke. It’s as if the government does not want to admit prohibition was always the wrong approach to marijuana (as it was with alcohol).
There are some other powerful industries and institutions that may feel threatened by the competition that marijuana will bring to various established markets and industries. Let it go. We are in a recession, let the repressed marijuana industry thrive and pay it’s HST.
Marijuana culture is a legitimate culture within our multicultural country. Discrimination against marijuana culture is vicious and unwarranted. Marijuana prohibition is a major breach of our fundamental Freedoms in Canada.
There shall be no regulation of private marijuana sales directly from person/business to consumer of marijuana. Commercially mass produced marijuana would be more prone to cost-cutting health and safety breaches, than small scale person to person growth and distribution, as we have already seen with some of the federally approved, liscensed producers.
Sure, regulate the marijuana that we export, or that is mass produced commercially by large pharmaceutical corporations for mainstream use, but people still have the right to operate small marijuana cottage industries within Canada.
The only difference between legal and illegal drugs, seems to be based on who is selling them. Current prohibited drugs were formerly used as medicine, before WW2 and the development of the modern pharmaceutical industry. Rather than amending the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, we should totally remove it from the Criminal Code.
Desperate times call for desparate measures, and the opioid crisis is getting worse every day. Drug abuse must be treated as the public health and social issue that it is. I believe that most reasonable Canadians do not want the justice system to treat drug offenders as harshly as it does. Anyone who has had a loved one sucked into the dangerous places of the drug culture would appreciate a more gentle and compassionate justice system that encourages psychological and emotional healing through various means. Non-violent drug offenders should never have to worry about becoming the target of the criminal justice system.
Cannabis Day July 1
